


golden boy

by Timpeni



Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: F/F, F/M, Historical, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-15 02:12:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7202048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timpeni/pseuds/Timpeni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A certain Kintoki keeps trying to break into Mount Ooe, and Shuten-doji meets him there every time. They read poetry under the full moon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	golden boy

**Author's Note:**

> this is nothing but sadness. me channeling my frustrations at ibaraki event

(“Once upon a time,” Tamamo begins, “there was a beautiful young girl, daughter of Yamata-no-Orochi. She was born with fangs and incredible strength. From birth, she was an innocent monster.”)

\---

Shuten-doji is younger than Ibaraki-doji.

This is something that may be surprising to some, but generally, age does not matter much to demons. In civil society, age is a sign of wisdom, experience, trust-- and thus, to the _oni_ who rampage in the mountains between the cities of ‘civil society’, there is no value in such frivolous nominators. Besides, there is no way of knowing how old someone is when they do not speak of it, and appearance is not as all a useful factor to judge anything by when it comes to the supernatural. When Shuten stepped onto the foot of Mount Ooe, there was no way for Ibaraki to prove that Shuten had been born years after her in the same area near Mount Ibuki, and there was no way for Ibaraki to turn Shuten away when she came bearing drink and song.

From the very beginning, Ibaraki was the boss of Mount Ooe.

There was no way for anyone to realize how far this innocuous drunken girl would go, always dressed in flowing satin and smelling of dry _sake_. She is just a frequent wanderer, another demon like them that flits around looking for worldly pleasures. There is nothing special about her.

“You sure spend a lot of time around here,” Ibaraki says one day, after Shuten’s made her way through their entire wine stash. “How about the bill, eh?”

“My, isn’t it inelegant to jump to such unpleasant topics right when you’re greeting a guest?” Shuten laughs, letting out another breathless _aah_ that smells of grapevine and rotten meat. “Name your price, landlady.”

Ibaraki refrains from spitting in Shuten’s eye, even though she looks like a prime target for that, sitting down on the floor with that drunken smile all over her lips. “Gold. At least ten sacks of it, by how much you’ve drowned yourself with.”

“Ah,” Shuten breathes, and Ibaraki can already see where this is going. “I don’t have any with me, unfortunately.”

“And you’d still dare to--”

“Calm down, calm down. Ms. Landlady.” Shuten gets up, and Ibaraki braces herself for a punch out of instinct. But Shuten’s hands are still occupied with a jug of _sake_ and a plate of unidentified red meat, and in all reality, Ibaraki has nothing to fear. This _oni_ girl can never stand up to her. “I guess you’re tired of my own _sake_ and my dancing too, so how about this? I can go to town, and snatch you a few meals. I’ve heard your demons have, haaah, had trouble not getting caught in the last few weeks.”

Ibaraki narrows her eyes. “Is that an insult?”

“Of course not, good Landlady. This is just an offer to help,” Shuten slurs, and a smile never leaves her face. “How about it? I can show you what I can do. The bill is no issue to me.”

“You’re just going to run away the moment I let you go,” Ibaraki hisses. “But whatever. I’ll get a lackey to go watch you. Fetch me the head of an _onmyouji_ in Kyoto!”

Shuten’s grin widens. “Oh, so that’s who you’ve been having trouble against, right~? Alright. I’ll get him for you. Don’t worry a bit, good Landlady.”

\---

The next day, Shuten returns with a slaughtered young boy, a woman with half her head missing and the broken jaw of a man, skin barely hanging onto the where his bottom lip should be. “His son was easy to target, following me the moment he set eyes on my form. Both parents were nearby and called for help,” Shuten explains, looking somewhat disappointed. “Apologies, I had to kill him fast after shutting his wife up. This is all that’s left of him.”

From then on, Ibaraki lets Shuten drink all that she wants. A customer who can pay off their debts is someone worth keeping.

And so, Mount Ooe begins to flow with more blood than wine.

Ibaraki is strong, no doubt. There is no other reason why she has come to lead all the demons that hung around Mount Ooe: her strength gives them something to rally around. A _leader._ Someone they can call ‘boss’. But that is the only reason, in the end, so it makes a problem. Ibaraki has never been too ambitious, simply concentrating on the pleasures of life, the taste of wine and human meat.

Shuten seemed very similar, on the surface. But on the full moon, as the aristocrats and the artisans sit under the gaze of the night to recite superficial poetry of their narrow human world, Shuten watches the little lights from their lanterns from the top of Mount Ooe and says:

“Hm, Ibaraki, wouldn’t it be good to rule Japan?”

“--What?”

“Ahh, it would be,” Shuten answers herself, and takes another swig of _sake_ before letting out a soft laugh. “Imagine it, having them dedicate poetry to you under the moonlight, narrating your stories with all the fire in their hearts… ufu, and for them to serve you all the wine you want on the drop of a hat.” Convinced that she’s just drunk as usual, Ibaraki continues eating the sweetened dango she stole from the townspeople in the morning.

At some point, Shuten had stopped calling Ibaraki as _Landlady_ , and somehow, it seemed perfectly natural.

After all, from the very beginning, Shuten was the boss of Mount Ooe.

(And when they march to Kyoto-- when they march, for a moment, Shuten can already hear the titles they will give her, the treasures they will bury her with and the stories that will live on after her death. For a moment, just an ethereal moment of time, she could dream like a human would.)

\---

“A vile human boy has broken into our midst!”

Ibaraki begins to report to Shuten instead of the other way around. No one points this out verbally, and for good reason.

Shuten tilts her head, before bringing her hand up to her mouth and letting out a yawn.

“I’m serious!” Ibaraki slams a tree nearby, and it lights on fire. Shuten remains unperturbed. “He’s stronger than a normal human, and we don’t know what he wants! We’ve tried offering wine, sex, food, money-- but he doesn’t seem to care!”

Shuten, seated amongst a collection of pretty flowers at the top of the mountain, would look like the least likely person to be able to fix an issue like that. Still, she gets up, bringing her half-finished fruit platter with her as she does so. “Take my _sake_ jug,” she orders, and there is no smile on her face. “Let’s go see what he has to say, hm? Just stay by the sides and don’t let yourself be seen. If I need back-up, I’ll call you.”

Ibaraki slowly realizes, while lugging that heavy jug of dry _sake_ , that she’s never seen Shuten fight.

It is not hard to spot the boy, with his head of golden hair, smashing another demon to the ground. Shuten doesn’t voice her presence first, simply stands by and watches as he brings his fists down onto the oni’s face again, and again, and again-- it’s unbridled, angry, _vengeful,_ and to Shuten, she can see this boy has nothing to lose.

Ibaraki twitches, already ready to move, because that demon will be dead if they don’t do anything-- but somehow, she knows Shuten is watching her from the corner of her eyes. And just months before, she’d think that with how unarmed and unclothed Shuten is, she could take Shuten down without a second thought-- but for some reason, when Shuten begins walking closer, Ibaraki is paralyzed to the spot.

Shuten, in her playfulness and her ruthless actions, is both absolutely maddening and yet horrifically terrifying.

“Good morning, boy,” Shuten hums, and when Kintoki turns around and stands right up to her, he is only a few inches taller. “Are you lost, darling?”

“Shut up! Don’t talk to me like you’re my mother,” Kintoki spits. His eyes are a fantastic blue, like pieces of the sky, and this is the only time Shuten will be able to see them. “I heard the demons of the mountain are kidnapping travellers on the road! Bring me to your leader, you bitch, or you’ll be the next one to go!”

Shuten tilts her head, expression unchanging, simply maintaining that drunken smile. The fruit platter is still in her hands. “Hmm, you’re not completely human, are you? How scary~ I sense no magic barriers, and yet you do not fall for me despite making eye contact… ufufu, are you an _oni_ too, boy?”

Kintoki sends a punch flying, and Shuten swiftly arches her back to dodge it. “Never! Never in a million fucking years! You may look like a girl, but I’m not afraid to beat the crap out of you!”

“Oh, how chivalrous,” Shuten hums, sidestepping another kick. His foot breaks the bark of a tree, and then the entire trunk shatters with a _crack_ before plummeting the ground. He’s strong, alright. “Hm, then you’ll be happy to know, I’m the second-in-command here… but the boss doesn’t want to be disturbed. So you’ll have to do with me, alright? So sorry about that.”

Ibaraki, gripping the handle of her sword, suddenly remembers that _right, I’m the boss here, not--_

Kintoki swivels around and lunges for her arms to restrain her. Shuten jumps away, and this time the fruits roll off the plate in her hands, before she snaps her fingers and the ceramic platter begins to grow longer, into the shape of a sword.

“My, my, you’ve made a mess, handsome boy,” Shuten hums, and her smile drops. “Now you’ve made me waste my meal. I’d say it’d be much better if we sat down and talked, but I’m sure you don’t want it that way, do you?”

Kintoki steps back, surveying the situation. Her sword is longer than she is, and though she waltzes around with a drunken scent to her breath, she knows exactly what she’s doing. “Of course. No other way. I’m going to have your head, demon!”

But Shuten-doji is faster.

Ibaraki steps forward a bit, putting aside whatever strange trepidation she feels to watch Shuten. Kintoki is strong, through enough to block her sword slashes with only his fists. But there are slashes over his arms immediately, because Shuten is swiping back and forth, behind him, in front of him, dashing away to seemingly retreat before rushing back in-- her speed forces Kintoki onto the defensive, which is something he doesn’t want.

“You’d think I’d come without a weapon?!” Finally, the axe-- or whatever that thing is-- strapped to his back is pulled up into his hands. But he has no time to strike, only kick Shuten away before he’s stabbed in the belly, and he quickly does a body roll to duck into the dense trees off the mountain path. Kintoki is not the only one who can destroy aged wood-- Shuten slashes wildly into the forest, and three of them come down at once, as if they were made of cotton.

“My _sake_ jug,” Shuten mutters into the darkness.

“Ah…” Ibaraki has to take a while to realize Shuten is talking to her. “Yes, here it is!”

Shuten grabs it without even looking Ibaraki in the eye, and at that moment, Kintoki’s axe comes whirring right for her face. She quickly pushes Ibaraki aside, out of harms’ way, and deflects Kintoki’s weapon with a rough punch directly to the blade-- ungraceful for her standards, and costly as well, with the blood now rushing down her arm. But better there than her face. “Ugh--”

“HERE I COME!” Kintoki smacks his hands together and barrels forward, trying to hit Shuten before she can recover. But once again, Shuten is faster, and she quickly opens the lid of her _sake_ jug.

What pours out _isn’t_ _sake_.

A dark, black mist bursts out at once, and suddenly Kintoki stops right in his tracks, raising his hand to his mouth to cough and gag. Shuten continues pointing the _sake_ jug at Kintoki, and he musters the energy to reach out and retrieve his weapon off the ground before near her feet before backing off.

“What the hell… is that…?”

“My secret concoction,” Shuten answers.

“Your concoction is _shit,_ lady! It smells like a cow’s gastric afterbirth!”

“Well, you’re certainly impressive. Normal humans would definitely have keeled over and fainted by now,” Shuten says, closing the lid. “I assumed you just needed a higher dosage, but you’re still up and standing. Care for another round?”

Kintoki doesn’t say anything in reply, simply picking himself off the ground before snarling at her. “Brace yourself… I’ll kill every single one of you! You’re all rotten to the core, preying on the weak, without a bit of remorse…”

“Ohh, so are you one of the weak, now~?”

Kintoki swings down _hard._

But his technique is off, clouded by his anger. In the end, he’s still a child, after all, even with such monstrous power. Shuten easily slides away, not unlike a snake rushing out of danger, before turning around to aim her sword at his neck. It comes down like a guillotine from his side, but Kintoki brings his arms up, and Shuten’s swords hit the bracelets on his wrists.

“...Ah.” Shuten suddenly steps away, and Kintoki remains standing in a defensive position for a while, expecting a trap. “Your bracelets.”

“What?” Kintoki barely looks at Shuten, and Shuten knows the reason why. Even with natural safeguards against her charms, anyone who looks at her for too long will succumb to it-- all will fall into love, or obsession, with her. The ‘ _sake_ ’ in her jug is supposed to help with that too, and Kintoki can probably feel the effects.

So she decides to use it against him, stretching her arms and leaving herself wide open, all patches of her skin exposed to the sunlight, hair gracefully tracing her shoulders as she tilts her head-- “Now, those bracelets… not only are they made of gold, they must be inlaid with magical material, hmm~? That’s the only way they wouldn’t shatter under my blow. Tell me, what is it?”

“None of your business!” Kintoki backs off, grabbing his weapon with him. He needs a better plan if he’s going to take down Shuten without suffering more than he’d ever like to. “I’ll be back, so don’t you dare celebrate!”

“Oh, you’re leaving already? And it was just about to get interesting,” Shuten sighs, and she leans back against her _sake_ jug before tauntingly waving him goodbye. “I’ll be ready for you next time, too. Do bring some food too, won’t you? All this fighting is making me awfully hungry.”

“Fuck you!”

Shuten laughs, and laughs, as if everything in the world was amusing.

Ibaraki feels the bruise on her face, when Shuten pushed her, and with the lack of anything else to do, she laughs as well.

\---

He wears sunglasses, the next time they meet.

Of course, sunglasses weren’t so sleek and comfortable back then. They were two misshapen slabs of smoked quartz, tied together with wire and placed on his face. “You look ridiculous, darling,” Shuten hums when she greets him on the footpath, having learnt his scent from their first battle. “Is that the new fashion in the capital nowadays?”

“Shut up! The court divinator made it for me! This will help me deflect your charm spells!”

“Such a shame. And you’re such a handsome boy, too,” Shuten sighs. “Muscles in all the right places, and such big blue eyes… won’t you let me see them?”

“You’d really think I’d fall for that?”

“You seem like the type who would.”

It does not cross their minds that neither of them know the other’s name. Such a thing is inconsequential now, and once they clash swords, nothing else matters at all.

Their fight is longer now, harsher, and Ibaraki could be there to see it, but-- she doesn’t, simply sits at the top of the mountain, waiting for Shuten to return. And when she does (of course she does, she would not die, she would never die), Ibaraki jumps to her scaly red feet and runs over, almost like an excited dog.

“Did you finally kill him?!”

“No,” Shuten hums, killing Ibaraki’s joy in a second. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a match where I could go all-out. But when I offered to trade a jug of wine for his bracelet, he suddenly got offended and ended up dislocating his arm trying to behead him. And he ran out of there before I could get back at him… what a shame, his skull would make a nice teacup.”

Ibaraki sits down in a huff. “Isn’t he just a dumb boy? Why can’t you kill him?”

“Ahh, sorry, sorry. I’m fond of children, after all. I can’t hurt him too badly,” Shuten laughs. “They taste the sweetest of all when they’re alive…”

The both of them sit on the grass. “I’ll fight him next,” Ibaraki huffs. “Let’s just fight him together! Get rid of him once and for all! He’ll come back, I’m sure of it, and he’s really getting in the way, hijacking our kidnappings in Kyoto…”

“Hmm…” Shuten looks away. “Perhaps it’d be better not to kill him.”

“--What?”

“Ah, Ibaraki, isn’t it annoying to sit on the grass?” She changes the topic without breaking a sweat, before standing up and walking away. “At this short cliff at the top of the mountain, overlooking the capital… let’s build a throne.”

Ibaraki blows a raspberry. “What? This isn’t a castle, you know!”

“We could make it one,” Shuten continues. “We have the manpower. Or, the _oni_ power, if you will. All the demons and _youkai_ passing by flock to this mountain, under our protection…”

Shuten turns around, putting a finger on Ibaraki’s chin. Ibaraki narrows her eyes, but doesn’t freeze up. “ _Emperor Ibaraki…_ how does that sound? Ufufu…”

(But the name playing in her head is _Empress Shuten-doji._ )

\---

An _oni_ is naturally predisposed to greed. But Shuten, sitting at the top of her half-finished castle with gold and treasures of all kind littering the floor or every room, might be a little more focused on that then Ibaraki.

“Hm? You’re here again?” Shuten steps in Kintoki’s way, and he tries his best not to distract himself with all the gold everywhere. “I haven’t eaten anyone recently. Shouldn’t you be happy?”

“Recently?! Tsk-- I’ve been getting reports of demons stealing from the Emperor’s castle itself! I’ve been having fun with our last few battles, but now, you’re going too far! Even desecrating the Heian Palace! They’re gonna send soldiers to deal with you now!”

Shuten sighs. “Tell me, boy, how is the misfortune of an emperor more important than the misfortune of a common merchant?”

“--Eh?”

“By your logic, I should’ve ‘gone too far’ much longer ago,” Shuten declares, and she waltzes over to Kintoki. “And yet, no one showed up at our doorstep. No one except you… but now, only when we steal a few lifeless treasures from the Heian Palace, they’re threatening to go to war? Aaah… puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?”

Kintoki steps back. “Stop playing your mind-games with me, woman!”

“Obviously, you don’t understand a word of what I’m saying… ufu,” Shuten chuckles. “But… say, if I told you I’ve killed a young girl. Smashed her to the ground and picked out her eyes. What would you do?”

She can’t see Kintoki’s eyes, but his face turns red with anger. “I’ll kill you!”

His weapons comes barrelling down, but Shuten parries it away with grace once again, before kicking Kintoki in the knees and sending him back. “Now, let me continue, won’t you? What if I told you I killed the Emperor himself?”

“Then-- then I’ll kill you!”

“You’re cute,” Shuten hums.

“Charm spells won’t work on me!”

“No, no. This is a genuine compliment,” Shuten slurs, and she tilts her head to the side. “Not many people would value the life of a nameless little girl as much as the life of the Heavenly Emperor. No one batted an eye when we grabbed merchants off the street and into the darkness of this mountain… except you. Aaah, maybe you and I could get along one day, you know? You’re different, boy--”

She dodges another blow, and this time, Kintoki shatters a rock in half. “Shut up! I’ll never get along with you! Demons like you-- you’re all rotten to the core! I’m not like that, got it?”

“Hmph. Sometimes, I think you might be smart, but you always prove me wrong,” Shuten huffs. “Very well. Let’s begin, shall we?”

\---

And when they fight till night falls, and the full moon rises, Kintoki finally drops his weapon and collapses onto the ground. For a split second, he expects the worse to come, and he squeezes his eyes shut-- only to hear Shuten fall to the floor with a laugh airy enough to fly up to the could.

“Aaah… hah,” Shuten breathes. “I’m all sweaty. How annoying… ahh… I could use a drink.”

Kintoki raises his head up, staring at her. She transforms her sword back into a plate, and pours herself some _sake_. “Huh… so,” Kintoki says, trying to get up. “Can I finally meet your boss, now?”

“Ah, you don’t get it, do you?” Shuten smiles. “I am the boss.”

“Eh?”

“But, sure. You can meet her, if you want,” Shuten mutters. She whistles into the trees, then leans back, taking another dry sip of _sake_.

They could easily kill each other right now, and yet, none of them move.

Shuten calmly tilts her head back, listening to the sounds of the night. “It’s a full moon tonight,” she hums, staring at the sky. “Ahhh… wouldn’t it be nice? To have a banquet under the full moon… under the shining stars… and for people to dance for you, to read poetry for you… isn’t that what you do?”

“...No,” Kintoki says, pushing himself off the ground. His fingers reach for his weapon, but it feels so goddamn _heavy_ after he’s finally given his arms a rest. “I don’t come from the city.”

“Oh?” Shuten turns to face him. “Where do you come from, then?”

“Mount Ashigara.”

“Ara! That’s a far distance for a boy to travel.”

“I’m not a boy! My name is Kintarou! Sakata Kintarou!”

(After all, he is still a boy.)

Shuten nods her head. “My name is Shuten-doji. Nice to meet you, _golden boy._ ”

And then, Ibaraki launches out of the trees, wringing her hands around Kintoki’s neck.

“Holy _fuck--!_ ” Kintoki tries to shove Ibaraki off, but they end up both tumbling down the mountain path at once. “Oh god, what the fuck, what the--”

“Killer! Brute! Loathsome slab of meat!” Ibaraki isn’t any more vicious than Shuten in any way, but she expresses it in a much more… _straightforward_ manner. Kintoki’s grown almost unused to this sort of anger, and it takes all his remaining strength to keep Ibaraki’s sharp claws from piercing into his neck.

He shoves off Ibaraki eventually, but he’s so exhausted in his current state that fighting is not an option. He gives them both one look, then decides not to let Ibaraki have another go at him, simply grabbing his weapon and rushing off, half-staggering down the footpath.

“Let him go,” Shuten breaths, and Ibaraki quickly turns her attention towards her fellow _oni._ She gets on her knees, looking Shuten up and down. “Ahh… coming to chase him, without even bringing your weapon… you can be rather idiotic sometimes, you know…?”

“Shut up, look at who’s talking! You’re injured all over!” Ibaraki huffs, but doesn’t leave Shuten on the footpath. Instead, she grabs Shuten by her hips, before rather ungracefully swinging her over her shoulder, _sake_ jug and all. “I’m bringing you to the castle.”

Shuten exhales, not quite energetic enough to laugh, but she smiles all the same. “Ahh… I wonder… when will our bedroom be finished?”

“Eh, a week or--” Ibaraki chokes. “O-our?!”

“...Oh? Did we plan to have separate ones?” Shuten continues teasing, since that’s all she can do right now. “But don’t you want to share a bed with me one of these days, Ibaraki~? Think of it, the curve of my chest, to the arch of your fingers…”

“S-shut up! Charm spells don’t work on other demons!” Ibaraki spits on the floor defiantly, as if trying to act tough, and Shuten’s grin widens.

After a while more of trudging, though, Ibaraki clears her throat. “Hey, Shuten… how is it like?”

“Hm?”

“To have people fall in love with you. Just-- love in general, ya know?”

“Think of it as an overpowering scent that can never go away,” Shuten says. “Why? Do you think you have succumbed to it? My, Ibaraki, you’re growing up so fast~”

“Stop it! I’m just… didn’t you see?” Ibaraki begins to hiss. “Right before I tackled him to the floor, that boy was staring at you with those big eyes of his! As if he’s never seen anything like that before in his life! And he likes it!”

Shuten blinks, and then she shrugs. “Ahh, if he falls in love with me, then it’s simply yet another who falls for me. Eventually, I’ll really be able to have a harem of handsome men in my castle~ oh, but Ibaraki, I wouldn’t recommend falling in love yourself. It’s too much. You wouldn’t want to know how it’s like.”

(A castle, overlooking the world, so close to the moon that Shuten feels like she could touch it-- and yet, it will still be too far away. Just like love, really. Just like--)

\---

The next time Kintoki comes along, Shuten’s laid out a bamboo picnic mat, carefully weaved by her underlings and smooth like silk. A wooden board with lines lies in front of her. She sits cross-legged, purple robes draped over her back like a cape, and white horn sticking out her head like a crown.

Kintoki stops in his tracks. “The hell is this?”

“Oh, perhaps a makeshift bed,” Shuten laughs, and the implication flies over Kintoki’s head. He’s still a boy, after all. “Ahh, but Kintarou, every time we cross swords, it ends in a draw, doesn’t it? And all the brave warriors that stopped by the mountain to attack me… well, even dozens of them at once can’t match up to a single _you._ Truly, you’re skilled enough to join my harem of handsomes~”

Now, that he gets. Kintoki chokes. “W-what?! Harem of handsomes?! No, wait, the important thing… you defeated them all?! Tsk… should’ve stopped by earlier when none of them reported back… the hell did you do to them?!”

“I just knocked them out,” Shuten shrugs. “The demons will have their fun with them, but after a week, we’ll return them. In one piece. Alive or not, that’s another thing altogether.” She casually deflects Kintoki’s sword slash with a swift kick of her feet to his arm.

Kintoki staggers back, feeling a new bruise forming. Even while looking unarmed and defenseless, Shuten is _never_ an easy target. “So you’ll make an example of them?!”

“Oh, calm down, handsome boy,” Shuten hums. “How’s this? I’ll make a deal with you. Play a game of _go_ with me, won’t you? Maybe we are matched in combat, but not in the skill of intelligence, hmm?”

Kintoki crosses his arms. “So what if I play a dumb game with you?”

“If you even draw with me, I’ll let all of the Emperor’s soldiers go. Alive,” Shuten declares. “And if you win, I’ll pack up and leave Mount Ooe forever.”

Kintoki gapes so much that his crude sunglasses almost slip off his face. “W-what? Really?”

“A demon’s word is law here. I will live up to it, even if the game does not go in my favor. Of course, if I win…” Shuten tilts her head. “I’ll turn you into a full-fledged _oni_ and make you join as my second-hand man. Alright?”

He stomps the floor, and immediately sits down. “Like hell I’ll lose!!”

“...Do you even know how to play?”

“...”

Shuten smiles to herself. “Oh, it’ll be unfair if I destroyed a beginner. I’ll teach you along the way, then~” She pulls a handful of _go_ stones out of her robes, both black and white. She dumps the black ones onto Kintoki. “There.”

She reaches out, taking one of Kintoki’s stones. “Black goes first. The goal of the game is to take up as much of the board as possible. Put your stone anywhere on the board. Then, I’ll put my white stone down, and you put another black stone on any area directly next to or diagonal to the original stone. Like an advancing, marching army. When your black stones ‘surround’ my white stones--” She grabs a handful, putting a bunch of black stones around a few white ones-- “My white stones will be ‘defeated’, and I must remove them from the board. Winner is the one who has the most ‘territory’ at the end of the match. Think of it like conquering the lands whilst fighting a war. The soldiers who are ‘surrounded’ by others must then be defeated.”

She passes the black stones back to Kintoki. “As I said. You go first.”

With those ugly sunglasses on, Shuten can’t see where Kintoki is looking. But when his eyes dart down, reluctantly reaching for a stone, it’s obvious he’s straining to see if there’s any curse or trick up Shuten’s sleeve. He puts it right in the middle of the board.

“Ah, smart move,” Shuten compliments.

“R-really? Oh, yeah, of course!”

“Now,” Shuten breathes, putting a white stone just two spaces away from Kintoki’s. “Let the feast begin~”

\---

“You should’ve just told him you were a beginner too,” Ibaraki huffs.

Shuten shrugs her shoulders. “Even so, when the both of us had not a single idea what we were doing… that was why the game was as intense as it was, you know? Fighting is fine and dandy, but I know I can never be defeated. In that game, however…” She smooths her hair back. “It was a constant battle for dominance. It was like he was wrestling me with naked arms, trying to take control, passionately tumbling over the--”

“I get it, I get it!” Ibaraki covers her ears, and Shuten laughs. Even though they are both demons, they still have… widely different interests. “...Jeez. But when you guys somehow pulled a draw, dya know how hard it was for me to drag those soldiers away from all our lackeys?! And he looked so smug all the time, too… _finally, I’ve defeated the oni…_ he didn’t defeat jackshit! You two were tied in a draw!”

Shuten doesn’t say anything for a moment. She takes a great, big sip of _sake_ , not caring much when some spills over onto her chest. “Hmm… you’re right. He was far too smug at the end, wasn’t he~? Not at all chivalrous and graceful as he should’ve been,” Shuten whines. “Alright, then. He’s got the soldiers back, but let’s not be so kind.”

She points towards the city lit by lanterns. “Let’s start a ruckus in Kyoto tonight. And the next, and the next, and the next. When the sun falls, let’s be the Emperor and Empress.”

\---

Watanabe no Tsuna cuts the arm off a beautiful girl. With all due respect, although Ibaraki is quite beautiful, she did still try to eat him, and so that was that.

“What a mess~” Shuten sighs, pouring _sake_ over where Ibaraki’s arm should be. She ignores her screams of pain. “Keep still, you need this. It’ll keep your wound cleaner than any river water can.”

“My arm,” Ibaraki chokes, almost keeling over even when she’s already on the floor. “My arm! My fucking _arm!”_

“You’ll get it back,” Shuten coaxes, though she does not sound too convinced herself. “Ahh, why’d you have to target a samurai? Pick your battles, Ibaraki, pick your battles. Even if you do live on from this… he’ll never let this go, you know? This story, of Genji Tsuna cutting off your arm, will go on for centuries. He’ll name his sword, stash your arm, and probably get a promotion.”

Ibaraki spits on the ground again, though mostly to cope with the stinging pain. “Why do you care so much about that? Who gives a fuck about if people remember this? I just want my arm back!”

“You know, if you ever become an Emperor, this would be the kind of story they tell after your death to show how you were a weak ruler.”

“But I won’t,” Ibaraki hisses.

“Now, that’s no way to--”

“Stop pretending.” Ibaraki turns her head up to Shuten, and it looks like she’s trying to glare, but there is something in her eyes that is profoundly sad. “You know, if anyone is going to become the Emperor, it’s you, Shuten. Not me. Never me.”

(After all, from the very beginning, Shuten was the boss of Mount Ooe.

Ibaraki was fine with that. She _is_ fine with it, and yet-- and yet, sometimes, she just wishes that Shuten’s power, her determination, her cold fury, it could be hers, all of it hers, and she would be--)

\---

“Good morning, Kintarou. It’s been a while.”

“It’s Kintoki now.” He has a big jug of _sake_ in his hands, and this time, he sits down on the bamboo mat without hesitation.

Shuten tilts her head. “My, my! How old are you now? Did you just pass your _genpuku?_ The golden boy is a golden man now~”

Kintoki scowls. “I-I was always a man, dammit! I just got recruited by Minamoto no Raikou and Watanabe no Tsuna to their four-man gang, that’s all-- but that’s why I’m here. Not to announce my name change.” He leans forward. “Your, er, leader… the one with long _golden_ hair and red feet… the one that tried to eat my face off… I think Tsuna might’ve cut her--”

“Arm off? Yes, I’m very aware,” Shuten says. Her smile is gone. “Don’t worry about her. I won’t let any harm come to her. This situation arose because of her own failings. Her technique was unrefined, and her target was beyond her capacity to handle. Seduction is my expertise, after all~ wouldn’t you say so, Kintoki?”

“H-how the hell would I know anything about--”

“Ah, but. If you are here to ask if she is alive, then yes, and she is doing well.” Shuten tilts her head. “Of course, with this recent turn of events, the official leadership status of the demons here finally falls to me. So you’re facing our ace head-on now. Exciting, isn’t it?”

Kintoki doesn’t look intimidated. “Next thing. You guys have been in Kyoto the last month or so, right?”

“Oh, of course. Though, I’d be glad to inform you that we took _extra care_ not to hurt anyone during our escapades~ property damage isn’t included in that clause, however. We just wanted a bit of fun, that’s all.”

“You know, my bosses talked with one of the court _onmyouji._ Abe no Seimei. He said--”

“Abe no Seimei? Oh, I’d love to meet him!” Shuten cuts Kintoki off. “I’ve heard he has the most handsome face. Ahhh, men and women alike swoon at the sight of him, so much that he’s taken to covering his head in public. It’s too bad that he seems to have such an awful personality, victimizing us _oni_ like this. But it’s alright, even with a soul as black as night, that doesn’t quite matter too much when the lights and clothes are off, right? Hm~”

“That’s not the point!”

“Are you jealous, Kintoki?”

“N-no! Fuck! Not at all!” He violently shakes his head. “Stop doing that!”

Shuten grins from ear to ear. “But yes, go on, Kintoki. What did he say?”

“...Right. Abe no Seimei told us that demons tend to just follow their whims and go whatever way their wants take them.”

“Mhm. He is not wrong~”

Kintoki pauses. “But… pointlessly causing a mess in Kyoto and not eating anyone… that’s gotten him more paranoid than anything. He’s saying that there must be a reason for that. Like-- fuck, I don’t know, as if it’s all part of one big plan you’re pulling!”

Shuten blinks.

“And what if it is, Kintoki? What aim do you have to coming over and telling us this?”

“I-- I just--” He takes a deep breath. “I’m not allowed to come here anymore. ‘Fraternizing with the enemy’ or whatever. That’s why I haven’t been coming over at all, not even to lug it out. But… the fact that you didn’t hurt anyone, the entirety of last month… was that because of me?”

(Because there is nothing more empowering, more grand and more comforting than being a hero. Even all the soldiers woke up in their homes not knowing who brought them back, and no one knows that Kintoki is Shuten’s only link back to humanity. Even if he only fools himself into being a hero, then it is enough. It’s enough.)

Shuten does not look away. “Kintoki, it is not in a demon’s nature to reveal secrets nor weaknesses.”

“I don’t get what the hell that _means!”_ Kintoki gets up suddenly, balling his hand into fists. “But-- when I first came here, I thought all demons were just rotten to the core. I thought you guys were all beyond negotiation, and brute force was the only way to get anything done.”

He shakes his head. “I didn’t think you’d be… coherent, or even smarter than me. And I didn’t think you’d honor your word, letting all those men go back home. And… I thought you would’ve killed Ibaraki the moment she came back with an arm missing so you’d be the one in power. Not take care of her. And… you know, I enjoy going all out on you! Fighting back and forth! I actually like coming here! So, I don’t know, I was just thinking-- fuck, what else do I have wrong about you? What else can _oni_ do that I can’t predict?”

Shuten tilts her head. “Why does this distress you?”

“Because you all act a lot more human than I’d thought you would, dammit! And that makes it harder for me to kill you!”

“Ah,” Shuten breathes. “So you’ve fallen for me, is that what you’re saying?”

“That’s not what I’m fucking sayi--”

“But I know what you mean,” Shuten interrupts. “What you said before pissed me off, the first few times we fought. ‘All _oni_ are just rotten to the core, and that is the relationship between you and I.’ In the end… that’s just a coping mechanism, isn’t it? To make it easier to kill us. Because we’re not _human._ But tell me something else, Kintoki. Do you love animals?”

Kintoki pipes up, finally having something he can answer confidently. “Yeah, I do.”

“Then, for example, would you hate a wolf for eating an innocent rabbit?”

“Of course not,” Kintoki replies. “A wolf’s gotta eat, right? That’s just how it is.”

“Exactly,” Shuten says. “And demons… we have to eat too. I may be satisfied for now, but in the end, we will all return for blood. Do you think we can simply exist in a void, Kintoki? Eating the berries off trees and the shoots off bamboo stalks like a common deer?”

Kintoki doesn’t say anything.

“In the end, even if we don’t make a sport out of it, even if we only do it out of necessity-- humans are just another part of our diet,” Shuten says, circling Kintoki. At some point, he’s started to hang his head out of shame. She picks the _sake_ jug he’s brought off his back and uncaps it. “But that’s not all. Kintoki, have you ever heard of the mongoose?”

Kintoki looks up. “The mongoose…?”

Shuten pours herself a dish. “The mongoose is a small animal in China. But did you know it could also hunt poisonous snakes and eat them? The snakes, in turn, would love to eat the mongoose. They regularly fight, one-on-one, whenever they see the other. While there is always a risk of death, they think the reward is worth that risk. Both to protect themselves, and to benefit from it. Would you ever say their fights are wrong, Kintoki?”

She takes a sip while he tries to answer. “No… no, there’s nothing wrong with protecting yourself.”

“Rightfully said. That is why, Kintoki, you should not feel shame for protecting yourself and what you believe in. Whether it be from demons or from other humans,” Shuten finally says. “If humanity is sided against demons like me, then you should not abandon them simply because you think it is difficult to kill us. And neutrality is cowardice, Kintoki. Are you a coward?”

“No!”

“Good,” Shuten hums, and then she pours the _sake_ over Kintoki’s head. “This _sake_ is absolute crap, by the way. Get something better next time.”

“Oi--!” Kintoki gets out of the way, shaking his head like a wet puppy to get the _sake_ out of his hair. “The hell was that for, did you know how much that cost me--?!”

Shuten giggles. “You’ve never tasted my own _sake_ before, have you? Distilled in the finest of cups… ah, Kintoki. _sake_ tastes the best when drunk from the rarest goblets.” She snaps her fingers, and suddenly, shadows from the forest lick at her feet, emerging like slithering hands. Kintoki backs up, suddenly apprehensive, when the darkness recedes and leaves a golden _sake_ dish at her feet. “I stole this from the Emperor himself. Won’t you drink with me?”

“Sheesh--” Kintoki winces once again when Shuten uncaps her _sake_ jug, fully remembering the horrible mess that spouted out of it while they were fighting the first time. However, she only pours out a clear, almost shining liquid, free of any dirt or mud. She hands the golden dish to Kintoki. “That ain’t poisoned, right?”

“How cruel. I give you a life lesson, and you think I’m poisoning you?” Shuten sighs, sitting back down on the bamboo mat and taking out her own dish again. “...It’s really not poisoned. What, do you want me to prove it to you first?”

“No, I’m just… this is the Emperor’s stolen property, man… this isn’t golden at all, even though the cup’s… literally golden...”

“He has dozens of those, I doubt he misses it,” Shuten shrugs. She takes a large sip. “...Still won’t drink?”

Kintoki tries to relax his shoulders, but he can’t. “I don’t understand. I get your argument, saying that it’s best to protect yourself first… but… by welcoming me to kill you and assurin’ me that it’s okay, doesn’t that just put you in danger? What the hell? You make no sense.”

“Ahh, it doesn’t make sense, does it? Perhaps I have fallen in love with you myself,” Shuten suggests, putting a smile on her face. Kintoki immediately grows ten shades paler. “What’s with that expression? Isn’t having an attractive woman like me fall in love with you one of the best things that can ever happen to a man? I can lift my robes, you know, if the fullness of my chest isn’t enough. My--”

“No! No, no, no, don’t get naked, don’t do anything!” Kintoki quickly takes a sip to try finding an excuse not to talk-- that is a bad decision, because drinking Shuten’s _sake_ dry is a death sentence. It’s not poisoned, of course, but it’s as strong as the demon herself. “PFFFT-- holy, shit, _god--”_

Shuten laughs a lot more loudly this time, barely restrained under her guise of gracefulness. “Oh, but you are a most handsome man, and the only one who could ever match up to me in combat.” She slips her hand over to try touching his shoulder teasingly, but he only chokes again, before quickly grabbing his axe.

“SPAAARK!” Using it as a pivot to leap into the air, Kintoki ends up over five meters above the ground, and falls into the branches of a tree. “...Phew… wait, I’m stuck…”

“So mean… you didn’t have to run away…” Shuten smiles to herself. “Ahh, I would offer to have a drinking contest, but perhaps you need to build up your resistance a bit more before you challenge me. Oh, but I should warn you-- that Watanabe no Tsuna might get a visit from Ibaraki-doji some time soon. She knows where her arm is, after all.”

Kintoki tries to kick away a branch, but it swings back and hit him in the face. “There’s a family of squirrels that live up there, by the way, so try not to be too violent.”

“Oh, shit,” Kintoki says, and suddenly it feels a lot harder to get down without the option to just tear the tree in half. “...Hey, why’re you packing up? You’re not gonna just leave me here, right?!”

“Mmm, but it’s just the right time for my nap~” Shuten does a fake-yawn, before turning away on her heels. “I’ll see you another time.”

“Oi, come back here!”

“But you’re too shy to be touched by me, even on the shoulder, so if I helped you out, you’d almost certainly die~”

“S-shit, have some mercy!”

“I’ll get someone else to come save you. Just sit tight, alright~?”

Shuten rolls up the bamboo mat, tucks it under her arms, and walks away happily humming to herself while Kintoki swears under his breath.

“...That bitch… can’t rely on demons for anything…” He stops when he sees a squirrel running across a tree branch. So she wasn’t lying. “Oh, sup. Could you help me down here?”

The squirrel chirps back. “Uh-huh… yeah, I expected so much. ...Oh? But there’s someone coming over to save me? So she did call someone to help. ...Someone scary…?”

And without another moment to think on what the squirrel said, Ibaraki breaks the tree in half.

“What the fuck?!”

“TIIIMBEEER! Ahahahah!” Before Kintoki slams onto the ground and goes into a coma, Ibaraki jumps over and snatches him out of the tree, tearing his shirt in the process. Surely better than a concussion, but still. “Ugh, so it’s thee. The one always bothering us.”

“Why’d you break the tree down for?!” Kintoki gets up, visibly distressed. “There was a squirrel family living inside it!”

Ibaraki raises an eyebrow. “Oh, so that’s what she meant by ‘don’t be violent’. Thought it just meant not with thine body.”

Kintoki quickly lifts up the entire tree-- as in, picks it up, lifts it right off the ground, trunk and all. He looks around, almost frantically, but soon enough, four squirrels dash towards his feet. “You okay, buds? Sorry about that.”

“They can just find another home, don’t be so concerned over such stupid things.” Ibaraki rolls her eyes, but Kintoki straight-up ignores her, gathering the four squirrels in his hands.

He looks around, trying to find a good tree. “What’s that? ...Every tree is already occupied? Dammit, I guess there are a lot of wildlife here… no problem, though! I’ve already got a big saw with me, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Ibaraki watches him warily as he picks up his axe, and-- starts hacking away at the fallen tree. “...What is thou doing?”

“Building a small treehouse for them!”

“Is thou serious?”

“Yep,” Kintoki nods. He continues sawing away, not seeing anything wrong in it. “What’s the matter? Do I have a time limit on this mountain? And what’s with that old lady way of speaking?”

“I-it is not an ‘old lady way of speaking’! This is how an _oni_ should speak.” Ibaraki folds her arms and turns her nose up. “Shuten was right. Thou art a complete fool.”

“Hey, hey, I ended up getting their home wrecked. So of course I’ve gotta fix up another one for them, right?” Kintoki saws apart more blocks of wood. “Just gotta get some nails to put this all together.”

“Does thee realize one of the strongest _oni_ in this entire land is standing here?” Ibaraki turns back towards him, trying to put on a glare. “Why is thou not trembling in fear?!”

“I’ve gotten used to you rowdy bunch. Besides, I like it rough,” Kintoki shrugs.

“L-like it rough?! You pervert! What have you been doing with Shuten?!”

“--What? No! No, no, not that way--!” Kintoki waves his arms wildly, and his face turns completely red. He doesn’t even realize how she breaks out of her archaic speaking pattern. “I don’t know what the hell she’s been telling you, but we’re nothing like that! She just hits on me, I don’t do anything back!”

Ibaraki seethes, and Kintoki tries not to stare at where her right arm should be. “Hmph. She hits on everyone, so that’s expected.”

“...Oh, she does that to everyone?”

“Why does thou sound disappointed?”

“I’m not! Look, just--” Kintoki groans. “Get me some nails or something to put this together, will you?”

Ibaraki glares. “I am not thine servant. Never dare to order me around, got it?!”

“R-right. Could you help me get some nails… please?”

…

Ibaraki unfurls her clawed toes, before using Kintoki’s own axe to chop off her sharp talons. They grow back almost instantly. “There.”

“Oh, thanks! These can work. Yep-- tough as a nail should be.” Kintoki re-adjusts the makeshift wooden house so Ibaraki’s claws can pin it all together. It doesn’t look like the nicest when he’s done, but it works, and it holds together. He saws several holes into it so the squirrels can jump into the house from any side. “There! How does that work? You guys like it?”

Ibaraki continues eyeing Kintoki as he happily nails the tiny treehouse to another tree. “Now you’ve got a space to store your nuts and sleep in. Not too shabby!”

“...I really don’t understand what Shuten sees in thou,” Ibaraki mutters. “Some brat from Mount Ashigara that just knows how to throw a few punches…”

“Hey there, I know how to do more than that! It’s just my specialty,” Kintoki argues. “But she talks about me?”

Ibaraki turns to face him again. “Yeah. She never talks about herself, just other people.”

“All I know is she definitely doesn’t talk like you.”

“W-well--! My mother always told me protecting tradition is important. That’s why I speak this way. Even if Shuten doesn’t!” Ibaraki conveniently fails to mention how she has only spoken like this for the first time in decades, because Kintoki is the first human she’s had a conversation with that didn’t end in someone’s head being bitten off.

While Shuten would laugh at that kind of reasoning, Kintoki nods and accepts it, regarding it as totally valid. “Alright. So, you’re the more… uptight one?”

“I am not uptight! Preserving the cultures of the past is important, but that doesn’t make me uptight!” Ibaraki huffs, but she remembers Shuten’s commands. Besides, without her arm, there’s no way she could win a fight. “And I’ll have you know I’m just as strong as Shuten!” Still, she stands up to Kintoki, sizing him up-- he’s grown much taller over the months. Or has it been years?

Kintoki nods tentatively. “Sure… so, uh, your mom was an _oni_ too? You guys all just have… demon families runnin’ around…?”

Ibaraki’s expression falls, but then softens to a neutral resting face. “No, she was human,” Ibaraki begins. “Not many _oni_ are born like this. I have little doubt that Shuten-doji was a natural _oni_ from the moment she stepped into this world, but I’ve got no clue either, because she never says where she comes from.”

“Oh,” Kintoki mumbles. Even without much ability for critical thinking, he’s good with people, and he can tell he’s hit a sore topic. So he quickly moves on. “Y-you know, my mom wasn’t a human!”

“Eh?”

“Yeah! She was a _Yamanba._ Said my dad was a dragon god,” he says, and brings up his arms. “These bracelets were all he left for me. His own bones are carved into them! ‘Course, people are scared of mountain witches, thinking they’re just as bad as _oni…_ but they don’t go wanderin’ into town and gobbling people up! They don’t do anything if no one walks into the mountain and wrecks the place. Still, I came all the way here to find work.”

Ibaraki narrows her eyes. “Son of a dragon god, travelling miles to simply do menial labour?”

“Hey, a man’s gotta work for what he earns. Half-dragon or not, it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve always felt fully human anyway,” Kintoki shrugs. Even though it’s clear enough, through his inhuman strength, that he’s far more than human. “Besides, I’ve got a good job now! Working for the big shots! They’ve even named me one of the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’! If I get enough honors, I’ll be able to bring my mom over to live in the capital without a hitch. Won’t matter if she’s a mountain witch, and no one would dare to ask me if she even was one! No one goes up to a strong, beefed-up warrior and says ‘hey, your mom looks like a hag!’. So it’s been pretty tough trying to find an excuse to come over here. If they caught me, I’d be in big trouble. Have to follow orders when it’s for my ma back home, you know?”

Ibaraki looks away, parsing her thoughts. “Son of a dragon god, huh… hmph, isn’t it nice, to have a mother waiting for you...”

“Anyway,” Kintoki begins, suddenly finding it much easier to talk to Ibaraki. “How did you meet Shuten?”

“She just kinda showed up one day,” Ibaraki deadpans. “I didn’t know where she’d come from, or what she’d done before. But… I couldn’t turn her away.”

“Hm? Why not?”

“It’s something in how she presents herself. Always talking about becoming an Emperor, wishing that people would read poetry under the moonlight for her… making us all build a castle, and sayin’ it in a way that made us all do it with a smile on our face… it’s like she has big plans! She sees far, far further than any other _oni._ That’s why I let her become our leader.”

Kintoki stares.

(“But… pointlessly causing a mess in Kyoto and not eating anyone… that’s gotten him more paranoid than anything. He’s saying that there must be a reason for that. Like-- fuck, I don’t know, as if it’s all part of one big plan you’re pulling!”)

“So… I really respect her. I don’t know, it feels like… she’s giving us direction,” Ibaraki mutters. “...Ahhh, why am I saying this?! You! This is your fault! I’ve never said this to anyone else my entire life!”

“Eh?!”

“Thou has preyed upon me in mine own moment of weakness! Begone! Get out of my sight, or else--!”

Kintoki’s left running down the mountain with his axe in one hand and his empty _sake_ jug in another. Ibaraki huffs, before her anger slowly dissipates, and she looks up to see the full moon above her.

\---

“Hey, Shuten,” Kintoki says one day, on another full moon, after they’ve both lost terribly to each other in a few card games and just given up for the day. “Ibaraki said… you’d like having poems read to you?”

“Hm?” Shuten tilts her head, then smirks. “Oh, are you offering to do that, Kintoki?”

“Ye...yeah.”

“How adorable~! And romantic, as well. Come on, read it, read it~”

“J-just wait!” Kintoki pulls out a crumpled note from his pockets. He unfolds it, thanking god he’s not illiterate, and clears his throat before reading a poem that someone else wrote. “ _Going over the fields of murasaki grass that shimmer crimson, going over the fields marked as imperial domain. Will the guardian of the fields not see you as you wave your sleeves at me?_ ”

Shuten’s eyes fly open, and she sits up. “ _If I did not care for you, who are as beautiful as the murasaki grass, would I be longing for you like this, though you are another man’s wife?_ ”

Kintoki pauses. “W-what…?”

“Princess Nukata,” Shuten says. “The poem to her secret lover, and his reply back. I’ve read the _Manyoshu_ many times when I broke into the Emperor’s palace. My, I didn’t expect you’d be so knowledgeable, Kintoki~”

“Eheh, yeah, I… wait, what do you mean by you didn’t expect--”

“Ahh, but you probably just got one of the scholars over in Kyoto to pick a love poem for you, right? That’s why you didn’t know the response. Not to mention that you were reading the woman’s side of it.”

“...”

Shuten still manages to chuckle. Kintoki clears his throat and changes the topic. “A-anyway, why do you like poems? You’re graceful and all, but you’re still an _oni_ to the core!”

“Well, you see…” Shuten slides over closer to Kintoki. Kintoki takes two steps back. “Have you ever heard of _kotodama,_ Kintoki?”

“ _Kotodama?_ ”

“The belief that words have power. Spiritual power,” Shuten explains. “So, by reading poetry to each other… I can make you fall in love with me.”

Kintoki almost falls off the damn mountain in surprise.

When he falls flat on his ass and starts spitting _wh-wh-what_ at light speed, Shuten simply laughs. “Just kidding~ or am I? Would you have liked me to be kidding?”

“Yes,” Kintoki gulps, and Shuten laughs even more.

“So-- this is the one thing I can corner and defeat you in,” Shuten hums with a smile. And when she turns around, walking with grace that no _oni_ should ever possess, Kintoki realizes that in truth, when it comes to love, she doesn’t have to use any spell at all.

He’s lost a long time ago.

\---

(The reason why she likes having poetry read to her is because it feels like something a servant would do to their master. She sits on her makeshift throne made of wood, overlooking the capital, but it is not a real throne, and the mountain castle is not a real kingdom. She may be the King of all _Oni,_ but she is not the _Empress of Japan,_ and she wants more.

Demons go where their whims take them. But Shuten’s lust for power is something far beyond that of a normal _oni._ She wants more, _hungers_ for more, and she hasn’t eaten in so long-- she’s preparing, getting stronger, starving her subjects for one big onslaught. Two days after Kintoki visits her, young girls begin to disappear from Kyoto, and everyone knows why.

_“Hm, Ibaraki, wouldn’t it be good to rule Japan?”_

Power is something that can get you anything. Shuten would no longer need to be the person singing to men at their windowsills, beckoning to come close, before she strikes like a snake. No, she just needs to beckon, and they will flock. She just needs to ask, and wine will be poured all over her, washing her pale skin with stinging dryness. She just needs to declare that she wants a harem and she will _get_ a goddamn harem, dammit, especially with Abe no Seimei and his dastardly pretty face.

And finally, she would send a royal decree to Kintoki to take his glasses off, so she can look into his blue eyes, not unlike pieces of the morning sky.

She’s been causing a ruckus in Kyoto with one part of her gang, and scouting the entire city with another. She now has a full diagram of all the night patrols, and every single back alley. Kidnapping with be a breeze. Breaking into the palace is easy, but striking true fear into the people so that they cede to her will be the hard part. They will stock up so many bodies that they might as well have already waged a war.

That is the difference between Shuten and Ibaraki. When Shuten wants something, she will get it. She does not chase simple pleasures that are right in front of her face, like how Ibaraki attacked a samurai on the road. She plays the long game, and she will win.

Ibaraki gets her arm back by using deception, just like how Shuten has taught her-- she masquerades as Watanabe no Tsuna’s aunt and preys on his intrinsic guilt towards his family. There is nothing more to be said. Nothing more to be done. They will strike on the full moon.

And yet, when Kintoki finally visits again under the pretense of ‘seeking refuge’, along with several men who she _knows_ must be samurai-- she lets them in.)

\---

“This isn’t poisoned, right?” Shuten then laughs to herself, as the entire banquet goes silent. “Oh, I’m just saying what you’ve said to me before, Kintoki.”

Kintoki grows pale, as if having his name called is a death sentence. “Ah-- yeah, yeah. I’ve drunk your _sake_ before, right? A long time back…”

“A long time back? Nonsense, just a month or so ago,” Shuten says with a smile. Kintoki seems to grow even more anxious. Ibaraki gives them a shifty look, especially the one who cut off her _fucking arm,_ and she leans over to Shuten.

“Shuten. I…”

“I know,” Shuten says, and she smiles. “Don’t drink.”

To know your enemy is to know the path to victory. No one has yet touched the _sake_ that the samurai have brought, even though Shuten’s _sake_ cup is already on the table. “We have tasted the food you have brought. Fruits of the purest color, and fresh meat from the youngest of fawns. Absolutely splendid! Now, break out your wine-- oh, but don’t stain my cup with it yet.”

Shuten presses her head into her palm. “You see, as _Shuten-doji,_ I will drink only the finest beverages. So… come now. Prove that your _sake_ is worth the flick of my tongue.”

“It’s no problem,” Minamoto no Raikou says. “Kintoki, why don’t you drink it first?”

Shuten’s blood runs cold.

(It wasn’t Raikou’s intention to sacrifice Kintoki, really. The _sake_ is poisoned, yes, but it is also blessed. It is the _Jinben-Kidō Shu_ , a drink which strengthens the humans but paralyzes _oni._ But with how Kintoki’s been fooling around with the _oni_ despite Raikou’s warnings, he wanted to make use of their trust in Kintoki to prove that the _sake_ was ‘clean’.

But Shuten-- who would throw her underlings under the bus and _have_ sacrificed her lackeys before-- this is the one time she didn’t know better.)

“Ahh, I meant getting one of my servants to drink it,” Shuten offers, and she ushers one of them over. But Raikou, knowing his plan would be exposed, instead continues to pour a glass for Kintoki.

“I insist, Kintoki and I will drink first,” Raikou continues. Shuten’s mind is suddenly blitzing through a million possibilities per second-- there’s absolutely no way that _sake_ isn’t tainted with something, and all their other foods are alright, so-- she also knows that samurai loyalty is a thing, and it isn’t illogical to expect a chief commander to sacrifice himself too, especially to wipe out a whole gang of _oni_ who have been slaughtering left and right-- plus, if Minamoto no Raikou and Watanabe no Tsuna are involved, it means it must be a direct order from the Emperor, so perhaps their plan to storm the capital is exposed--? Then of course, he will tell them to sacrifice themselves, for the good of the many, he would throw away Kintoki’s life for nothing--

When the _sake_ barely touches Kintoki’s lips, Shuten stands up, swipes it out of Kintoki’s hands, and raises a toast to Raikou before drinking it all in one gulp.

“Ahh,” she breathes, and she wonders if she’s finally made the first mistake of her entire life. Ibaraki stares in horror, and Kintoki can barely hide his own as well. And yet, she smacks her lips, before saying:

“Exquisite. Pour it for the rest! Leave nothing to the visitors, I want it all for myself.”

\---

There is no climax, no de-escalation and no resolution to this. Shuten feels light-headed after a while, the first time in decades, and this time, she pours herself her own _sake_ , just to remind herself of its potent sting one last time.

“Kintoki,” she calls, and Kintoki is immediately at her side, listening to her. It’s as if he knows he has no time to waste. “Hmm, what a wonderful banquet~ just another of the many we’ve had, right?”

“Ahh… yeah,” Kintoki says, and Shuten does not point out how utterly forlorn he sounds. There is not much she wants to say, really.

All she does, now that Kintoki is close enough, is to put a hand on his face.

“By my royal decree, as Empress of this mountain, take your glasses off,” Shuten commands. And Kintoki does so, feeling the cold touch of Shuten’s skin on his face, and this is the first time she’s touched him tenderly, outside of slashing him in a duel. “Ara, ara… how long has it been since I have seen those eyes? You have never smiled at me while I could look into your eyes, Kintoki. Smile for me.”

“I’m sorry,” Kintoki chokes, and Shuten can tell with how his jaw shudders that he’s on the verge of breaking into tears. “I can’t.”

(There was no reason for Kintoki to choose a love poem. There was no reason for Kintoki to keep visiting Mount Ooe when his career was in danger. There was no reason at all for Kintoki to cry, and yet, the reason is more obvious than anything in the world.)

Shuten simply continues to smile when Kintoki cannot, and even though she knows what is happening, there is no rage from inside her. Perhaps when she dies, it will all come bubbling up at once in the afterworld, but-- not now.

Instead, she brushes his hair back before toasting him one more time, taking a sip. "To kill with wine, or to sleep on the same bed with different dreams, it has its own flavor to it, no?"

It is chilling to speak with someone who knows that they are a dead man.

“Now, go. Don’t let them know you have spoken so much with me, hmm? I heard from Ibaraki. Your mother is still waiting for you.” Kintoki shudders before nodding, and though he sits up and leaves, he does not quite look back. He doesn’t pick up his glasses. Their original purpose-- to prevent himself from being charmed-- is moot point by now.

And Ibaraki, who has been following Shuten’s orders to _not drink_ until the very end, is the only one who has not drunk anything, or even joined the raucous laughter of all the demons around them. She is paralyzed without even drinking the elixir, so struck with her own fear of everything she knows disappearing forever that she looks like a frightened child.

Shuten feels sorry for her. But there is nothing she can do.

“Ahh… and to think, Raikou is still up and moving…” Shuten’s eyelids feel heavy. “This _sake…_ must’ve been poisoned only for us _oni,_ right? I’ve been a fool…”

Shuten is not the first to go. Several have already fallen to the ground. But when Shuten-doji loses her footing-- that’s when all hell breaks loose.

Kintoki is the closest to her, or perhaps that was intentional, so he is the one who reaches her sleeping body first. He draws his weapon.

(And the one who betrays and kills the other-- it wasn’t the demon. It wasn’t the demon. It was--)

When her head rolls at his feet and she knows he’s still listening, she says: “I'm going ahead first, okay?"

(There is no one to read her poetry as she dies. She never marched to Kyoto. The reign of Shuten-doji is a brief sigh in the annals of history, a short footnote. There will be pejoratives next to her name. The only title she gains is as one of the greatest evil _youkai_ of Japan.)

\---

Ibaraki retreats from the slaughter as the sole survivor. This is not surprising, Kintoki will say later. She has always had a knack for running away, whether it be from danger or from personal questions.

Eventually, Kintoki will succeed in returning for his mother and bringing her to Kyoto. He will live out the rest of his life in luxury, and die a beloved man. There will be many who attend his funeral. Ibaraki, on the other hand, will live out the rest of her existence hunting for scraps, never quite achieving whatever glory she had under Shuten-doji at Mount Ooe. She will never again sleep in a castle, surrounded by stolen treasure. The full moon will never be so close to her fingers.

There was no one to read her poetry as Shuten died. She never marched to Kyoto. The reign of Shuten-doji is a brief sigh in the annals of history, a short footnote. There will be pejoratives next to her name. The only title she gains is as one of the greatest evil _youkai_ of Japan.

None of them live to see it. At least, not in this life. But that is all in due time. When Kintoki walks away from the slaughter of the one he loves, staring back at the well-worn footpath he’s climbed up on for years and years, he will not forget that he has never smiled at her while she could look into his eyes. He will never forget this. There is a weariness all over him that cannot just come from his physical body alone. For a moment, he considers turning back and running up the mountain again, as if she will still be there, waiting for him, _knowing_ when he would come. It’s not that he’s afraid of facing what he’s done. It’s just--

He pauses momentarily in his footsteps, because there is one question he had forgotten to ask her, back when she would’ve laughed it off. _If I killed you, would you forgive me?_

And the wind whispers into his ear, not unlike the wind that rushes through you and leaves you cold as you die: _No. I will never forgive you. But perhaps I will still love you._

As for Ibaraki, who keeps running even though there’s nothing left for her, she collapses under the dim glimmer of the moon, not just full. And now, she knows. _I finally understand what you meant back then, Shuten. It was all too much for you, falling in love, and it was all too much for all of us. It’s too much to have someone else that loves you._

_I no longer want to know._

\---

(And yet, they dream:

They dream that in another life, in another time, they are all together again, living under one roof. And there is no problem with falling in love there, though Shuten-doji can never forgive him. Perhaps she can still love him, after beating the crap out of him. Yes, perhaps she still does love him after all.

They dream of a golden boy, and the most wonderful time to be alive. They dream of finally being on the same side after centuries upon centuries. But, as if with all dreams, they have to wake up.)

**Author's Note:**

> tfw no free ibaraki
> 
> ALSO: for those who don't get the beginning of the story, that paragraph Tamamo says is the last paragraph of 'innocent monster', which is another FGO fic i've written that has lots of references to Shuten-doji from before she was released.
> 
> the festival where they read poetry under the full moon is _Tsukimi_.
> 
> ibaraki-douji is said to be the only one who survived the massacre. poor girl
> 
> characterization comes from event translations from reddit [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/grandorder/comments/4ngrq3/ibaraki_event_translation_part_2/) and [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/grandorder/comments/4nt7od/ibaraki_finale_translation/) and [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/grandorder/comments/4nvbj9/ibaraki_quest_finale_part_2_you_will_not_get_free/). Also from wiki page. which is to be expected because i translated it.
> 
> I HOPE YOU ENJOYED. I SURE DIDNT (BEGINS SCREAMING)


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